


You Exist As The Exception

by tolsmolsol



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Street Racing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 15:24:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19748491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tolsmolsol/pseuds/tolsmolsol
Summary: Despite his best attempts to refuse, Dejun gets dragged to his best friend's street-racing competition. Expecting only to witness his two friends continue to dance around one another, Dejun is surprised to find there is a lot more excitement waiting for him than he had previously thought.





	You Exist As The Exception

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tinywriterfairy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinywriterfairy/gifts).



> Take Off was a very inspirational music video indeed.  
> I hope you enjoy! I'm a bit of the way through the final chapter and I hope to have it out before the end of this week.  
> I plan for this two-shot to be apart of a series in the same universe so look out for more ;)

The library at Dejun's university was beautiful. Five stories of gorgeous wooden architecture complete with comfortable plush chairs and couches you would probably find in an old lady's house. At present, Dejun sat at one of the desks, spacious with built-in chargers; sometimes he didn't leave for hours. The best thing about spending time in the library was that it was peaceful and quiet. This might seem obvious given the purpose of said building, but with the friends Dejun chose to have, it was a necessity. 

Considering his phone _would not stop buzzing._

A brief glance as he angrily opened his phone to turn the vibration settings off saw that Yukhei had taken to spamming him letter by letter to get his attention, and, considering how badly his thesis was going, Dejun was not having it. He threw it back on the table, which created a little bit too loud of a sound and caused heads to turn. Dejun gave an apologetic grimace. 

Another short baleful glance at his phone and a couple healthy drinks of his third Americano later Dejun was back to being focused on his school work. 

Not too long after however, loud footsteps made their way towards his desk. Dejun didn't even look up in fear he would throw something at the person he knew was approaching him. He was also struck with the sudden urge to slam his head against the desk in front of him. 

With the subtlety of an elephant, Yukhei dragged an empty chair from a neighboring desk across from Dejun and plopped down on it where he could look at him head-on. When Dejun finally decided to glare up at the intruder, Yukhei was looking at him with a smug grin. It was probably one part knowing he was pissing Dejun off, and the other part the sea of whispers that sprung up once people clapped eyes on him. 

Lucas/Xuxi/Yukhei Wong was definitely an enigma. At first glance of the leather-jacketed, almost greaser-looking man, many assumed he was a trespasser at the prestigious Peking University. But when it came down to it, Yukhei was probably richer than a quarter of the student body combined and just as smart. His choices just stemmed from his passions, which were indeed not the business degree he was forced to take by his banker parents, but the mechanical engineering classes he took on the side. Dejun himself, and their friend and his roommate Kunhang, were also children of wealth. It was how the three of them met. But the Wong family was almost a dynasty, owning the most prestigious corporate banks in Hong Kong and a third of the city's property. Yukhei was expected to continue to build on these great achievements, but he loved working on vehicles more than running a business. 

Though his friend not so secretly participated in street-racing. Yukhei loved motorcycles the most, and when Dejun was feeling particularly facetious, he liked reminding him that the only reason he could get a limited-edition Ducati was because of the inherited wealth he wanted to leave behind. 

Dejun experienced something similar to his friend, with both his parents being lawyers. Though his parents were a little more liberal on the subject, and he didn't have to hide his interests, he was still coerced into taking a couple of government classes "just to see." Their friend Kunhang- arguably the most chaotic of the three- was the only one whose parents didn't have to stress about taking after them because he loved ordering people around and working for his parent's company would allow him to do just that. 

Most days Yukhei dressed minimally, looking like he just came out of a mechanics shop. But today the leather ensemble and looking like he was dressed to kill had Dejun steeling himself for an argument. 

"No," he said right as Yukhei opened his mouth, who immediately pouted. A strange expression on someone looking like that. Yukhei was an enigma indeed. 

"C'mon Junnie, you said one day you'd come," he whined. 

"I said 'one day'." Dejun sighed, looking back down at his work. "That does not mean 'today.' Do you know how swamped I am with my thesis?" 

"Considering you never shut up about it, yeah," Yukhei huffed, and when Dejun opened his mouth to argue, he quickly continued, "c'mon man, I need you there this time. It's the prelims, and I need a friend in my corner." 

"Don't you have all your mechanic friends?" 

"They're my pit crew, it's different," he shrugged. 

Dejun raised a disbelieving eyebrow and shook his head. "Xuxi, you know I don't like the whole street racing thing to begin with, right? It's dangerous. Both the racing and the illegal shit that happens around it." 

"I know you don't, trust me. But look," Yukhei leaned forward and grabbed Dejun's hand, clenched in a fist on the table, "I'm nervous, okay? These guys I'm up against have been doing this their whole lives, and only three people can make it through. To them, I'm the obnoxious rich kid who's paying his way into the finals with a good car. That's why they made the course skill-based, so only those who really know how to drive can win. I need my best friend, please." 

Fuck. Yukhei rarely got this serious, ever. He spent his whole life surrounded by people with sticks up their asses (his quote, not Dejun's), so when he was around Kunhang or Dejun, or racing and hanging with the mechanics, he was free, loud and fun. Only when something truly mattered to him did he settle down and make his opinions known. Just like now. 

Dejun sighed. 

"I-alright, yes I'll come." His heart warmed as the biggest grin he'd ever seen in life spread across Yukhei's face. Yukhei clenched Dejun's hand almost painfully. 

Dejun suddenly remembered something. "What about Kunhang?" He asked and Yukhei's grimace gave Dejun the answer he needed. "Was his response along the lines of, 'hot, sweaty racer dudes? Sign me the fuck up?'" 

If it was possible, Yukhei frowned deeper. 

Though both of his friends could be a lot personality wise, they differed in romantic relationships. For all of Yukhei's ridiculousness in many areas, he tended to be pretty stable in relationships; one person at a time and he gave them his all. Kunhang, not so much. Not that Dejun begrudged him the freedom to explore, but sometimes he wished that his friend would open his eyes to see what was in front of him. 

Though Kunhang's wandering eyes when he saw Yukhei himself occasionally being a "Hot, Sweaty, Racer Dude" led Dejun to think he wasn't that blind. 

But this also explained Yukhei's strong desire to have Dejun attend. While he didn't doubt Kunhang's friendship, he would probably not be the support Yukhei needed given how nervous he actually seemed to be. 

"Well enough of that, it's time to go!" Yukhei ordered cheerfully, dropping Dejun's hand and standing up abruptly. 

"Wait, what?" 

"You think I'd ask you and give you time to back out? I think not. C’mon we have to pick up Kunhang." Sometimes Dejun hated his best friend. 

  
______________

The starting area was packed. It was a large square, bordering the edge of the main part of Beijing and one of its outlying neighborhoods. Hundreds of people milled around; groups of men worked on the ostentatious-looking race cars, there were beautiful women everywhere mainly hanging around a few select people who Dejun assumed must be the other racers as well as other intimidating men discussing in groups and handing cash around. Wads of it. 

Needless to say, Dejun was a bit intimidated. 

Kunhang, to no one's surprise, was not. 

They had already made an entrance as it was. It took Dejun a bit, but once he thought through his nerves, he realized he was sitting in a Rolls Royce. All eyes turned towards the car pulling up to the square and parking next to nice cars, but definitely not Rolls Royce level, and many gazes stayed there once Kunhang got out of it. 

Dejun had to give his friend credit; he certainly knew how to work a crowd. His beauty only increased his charm tenfold. 

Dejun made an effort to get out of the side of the car that had fewer people looking at it which, coincidentally, was the driver's side. Yukhei got out the same time he did looking as smug as Dejun had ever seen him. 

"Thought you wanted to prove yourself as someone who was more than money," Dejun grumbled, well aware of eyes on them. 

"Oh I do, that wasn't a lie," Yukhei smirked, "It would just make victory all the sweeter if I proved I had the talent and could flex on all these idiots." Flex with money and people, clearly, as his eyes had not left Kunhang one second. Said man was preening under the attention he'd been getting as he walked around the car to them. 

"Are we just going to stand here or do we have places to be?" Kunhang raised a sharp brow at Lucas. 

"By the looks of it, I'm sure you wouldn't mind just standing here." Dejun snorted. 

"Can't help it if they like what they see," he smirked, throwing non-existent hair over his shoulder. 

"You are both insufferable," Dejun groaned, then grunted when Lucas slammed his arm around his shoulder pulling him away from his car. 

"Don't worry Kunnie, everyone can still get a good look at you from where my car is," Yukhei teased, making Kunhang punch him on the side before huffily following them to where Yukhei was dragging Dejun. Before Dejun could wonder where they were going, tumultuous shouts from a black chrome car answered the question for him. 

"Lucas! The man of the hour," One man in particular stepped out from the group of men working on the car and made his way towards them. 

"'Sup Jackson." Yukhei grinned letting Dejun go to give a choking hug to the smaller man in front of them. Jackson was a handsome, stocky man who stood at a similar height to Dejun and had an incredible smile to boot. In fact, the rest of the pit crew seemed to be varying levels of attractive. Where had Yukhei found all these guys? Dejun startled when Yukhei introduced them. 

"These are my two best friends, Dejun and Kunhang." He pointed to each of them respectively. Jackson gave a polite smile to Dejun and did a double-take when he saw Kunhang smirking at him. 

"Ah yes, you've mentioned them quite a lot." Jackson chuckled, glancing at Kunhang again. "Almost too much in some cases." Kunhang turned to look at Lucas in confusion, but all he found was a harsh glare being directed at Jackson. Dejun snickered, and Jackson grinned at him in response. 

Dejun drowned out Yukhei's flustered response in order to observe the area, figuring he didn't want to see the trainwreck as it happened. The people who weren't around race cars seemed to be moving towards both sides of the road, leaving an open space for the race to start. Dejun's eyes turned towards the other race cars and found that, much like Yukhei's, they were all various dark and chrome colors. Pit crews seemed to be putting the finishing touches on their cars before the race. Dejun's observation was interrupted by the fact that a pair of eyes were already on him. Flushed, Dejun quickly glanced away but not before getting a glimpse of the guy in question. He seemed much younger than the rest of the racers, and probably the only one who looked close to Yukhei's age. Dejun's previous analysis of all the cars being dark colors was proven incorrect because the boy's car was a flashy red. And he was dressed similarly. 

Dejun braved a glance back over in his direction and found the boy still looking at him, but grinning now. From a distance, Dejun could tell he was handsome. The unashamed staring made Dejun's face heat up. He turned away once more to hopefully cool his face down, only to find Kunhang looking at him amused. 

"Looks like I won't be the only one getting some tonight." He laughed, punching Dejun in the arm and glancing in the direction Dejun had been looking. 

"Will you shut up," he hissed back, only succeeding in making Kunhang laugh louder. Dejun was blissfully saved by Yukhei calling them over to introduce them to the other guys. 

Not long after, both Dejun and Kunhang were sent back towards the crowd to find a place to watch the race start. Before they left, Dejun made sure to give Yukhei a supportive hug. Much to his amusement, while saying goodbye to Yukhei, Kunhang pecked him on the cheek. It left their friend looking dumbstruck and Kunhang a little flushed. 

Oh, his friends were ridiculous. 

The pair had almost made their way to the crowd when a breathless voice called to them from behind. 

"Hey!" The voice called, clearly having exerted some energy. Dejun and Hendery turned to find, to Dejun's terror, the boy from earlier running up to them. 

"Hello~" Kunhang greeted, looking way too happy about the events unfolding before him. The boy only shot him a brief glance before looking right back at Dejun, whose breath came a little short. 

"I wanted to see you before the race," he huffed, still clearly out of breath. Dejun noticed that his voice was accented, but it wasn't one he was familiar with. "What's your name?" 

"It's, uh, Dejun," he replied, feeling a little overwhelmed with whatever the hell was happening. The boy looked so much more handsome up close. 

"Dejun," the boy repeated, looking moony-eyed, and both of them ignored Kunhang's coughing chuckle. "I'm Yangyang. Will I see you after the race?" 

"I-" Dejun was at a loss for words. He didn't think he'd ever been this flustered in his life. 

"Yes, you absolutely will," Kunhang answered for him. This snapped Dejun out of it, if only to shoot a glare at his friend. Kunhang responded with an amused shrug. 

"Yes," Dejun reiterated chokingly before having to clear his throat, "yes." Honestly, Dejun didn't know how to handle an attractive man looking at him like Christmas came early. 

"Great!" Yangyang grinned before grabbing one of Dejun's hands that were hanging at his sides and putting something metal in his palm. Dejun stared at him, wide-eyed. "Give this back to me after the race." Yangyang closed his hand to around Dejun's to make it a fist and then ran off. 

"He's ballsy, I'll give him that." Kunhang decided to give his two cents. "Imagine going up to your competitor's friend and telling him to root for you in a race." Dejun swallowed and opened his hand to look at what Yangyang placed inside of it. It appeared to be a necklace; a silver chain holding a sizeable wolf-shaped pendant. He wondered about the significance of such an animal. 

"Kind of medieval isn't it? 'Here is a token of my affection'." Kunhang snorted, dragging Dejun towards the crowd as he realized his friend wasn't moving. 

"I think it's...sweet," Dejun muttered, allowing himself to be dragged as he didn't take his eyes off the necklace. 

"Of course you do, my favorite hopeless romantic." Kunhang shook his head as he stopped them near the front of the crowd waiting for the race to start. "That Yangyang boy will be pleased to know he has you hook, line and sinker." Kunhang started snickering again as Dejun socked him in the arm. 

Dejun was saved from further heckling as the revving of engines started. Six cars began to pull up to the spray-painted line on the ground. Cheers and jeers sounded around him as the racers took their places. 

Dejun did his best friend duties, giving a thumbs up as he looked at the car. He couldn't actually see Yukhei, considering his windows were tinted to hell, much like the other racers, but he hoped his friend still saw his support. Next to him, Kunhang was making a dramatic supportive scene which had Dejun giggling. It was the tinted windows that made Dejun feel brave enough to look into the windows of the car that had pulled up behind Yukhei. Dejun only did what he did next because he remembered from the library that three racers could make it to the finals. He didn't feel like he was betraying Yukhei. 

Without knowing for sure whether the boy in question could see him or not, Dejun held the necklace by the chain and let it hang a little bit from his hand. He then brought it back into his palm and clenched it. A silent show of support, knowing he could start a thing with Kunhang he didn't want to deal with as the stress of the race began to build up within him. Now he wasn't only worried about Yukhei, but the boy who decided to make his night more exciting by focusing on him of all people. 

This race was not on a protected track, but in a bustling city. It did not have ambulances on standby in case someone were to wreck, nor did the racers have the protective gear a standard racer would have. This was street racing, and Dejun was remembering why he never liked Yukhei doing this in the first place. In a fit of panic, Dejun clutched Kunhang's hand. He held it tight enough that he felt his friend wince but got a squeeze back regardless. 

Kunhang himself seemed calm. He was the one who always ribbed Dejun for being a worrywart or the "mom type." But looking closely, Dejun saw he was tense. It was then when Dejun remembered that Kunhang had never been to one of these either. Kunhang's gaze did not leave Yukhei's vehicle. 

There was an announcer starting introduce the racers, but Dejun’s nerves made it sound like he was speaking from the end of a tunnel. A count-down started. Engines revved. Dejun gripped the necklace so hard the pendant was dug into his skin. 

The countdown his zero and then they were off, the sounds of the engines quickly fading off into the distance. 

And then they waited. 

Dejun honestly didn't understand why this race appealed to such a big crowd when apparently people would only see the beginning and the end. Dejun heard the crews talking to the racers a little bit away, but otherwise the crowd around him just talked about bets, who was going to win and how smashed they were going to get by the end of the night. 

It didn't take long for Kunhang to distract himself by chatting with a neighboring older couple who looked weirdly enamored with him. Dejun had a feeling as to why and wrinkled his nose in distaste. But he knew his friend, and if any of the parties involved weren't ripped or male, it wasn't going to happen. But he enjoyed the game nevertheless. 

Not wanting to suffer through Kunhang's idea of fun anymore, Dejun began to wander around. He got catcalled by a group of rowdy, wasted men loitering on the outskirts, but otherwise he was content to just observe. 

He wished Lucas would have told him how long this was going to take. 

"You look bored." A voice chimed behind him, making Dejun jump a foot in the air. He spun to face an attractive looking man. His angel face and catlike eyes made an interesting contradiction to his grimy dress, the same as the other pit crew members 

"Uh, kind of?" Dejun scratched the back of his head. "I was never told how long it would take." 

"Well, based on how Yangyang's doing now, I'd say he'd be back in about-" he checked his watch, "twenty minutes?" Dejun's eyes widened at the name. 

"You're-" 

"Yangyang's engineer? Sure am," he said, holding his hand out, and Dejun grabbed it to shake, "the name's Winwin. Sometimes I also moonlight as his handler." Dejun couldn't control his eyebrow raise as soon as he heard the name and Winwin noticed. "Yes, it's a nickname." 

"Oh, I'm Dejun." 

"Now that I did know." Winwin chuckled, but then winced. "Will you shut up? I'm trying to have a conversation here." Winwin must have spotted Dejun looking extremely confused because he tapped on his ear. It was then when he noticed there was a type of earbud in it. 

"I guess I should have mentioned it, but Yangyang can totally hear our conversation right now. He doesn't need my help during a race, but I guess everyone needs someone to hold their hand sometimes." Winwin rolled his eyes as Yanyang seemed to be responding to that. "It's what you deserve." 

"Oh," Dejun blinked as he processed this information. "Can you-can you tell him good luck for me?" There was a brief pause, and then Winwin started snickering. 

"He heard, I don't think I've ever seen him speechless before." There was another pause. "He says thank you by the way." 

"Oh, it's no problem," Dejun muttered, feeling his face heat up. He rubbed his hand against his cheek in hopes to calm it down. 

"God aren't you adorable, Yangyang would absolutely lose his shit- no, live in suspense dipshit." 

It was the weirdest thing, having a three-person conversation through two people. 

"Junnie~" Dejun turned to face Kunhang walking towards him, looking mussed. 

"Did the swingers get to you?" Dejun asked, a little surprised that he did actually look like something happened. 

"Thought I'd use it as a distraction briefly, then I decided I wasn't up for it." He shrugged before quickly turning towards Winwin. "Who's this?" 

"I'm Winwin, Yangyang's engineer," Winwin responded, also shaking hands with Kunhang who looked him up and down before realizing what he said. Then his eyes lit up. 

"Oh, Yangyang huh?" He grinned, looking at Dejun who was glaring at him. 

"My god, you look like an angry kitten," Winwin muttered, and Kunhang started laughing. 

"Doesn't he? It's hard to look intimidating when you're pocket sized-ow!" Kunhang groaned, rubbing his side where Dejun punched it. 

"I hate you." 

Apparently deciding to give Dejun a break, Kunhang turned his gaze back to Winwin. 

"Sorry kid, I have a boyfriend," Winwin warned and Kunhang pouted. "Honestly, I thought you were with Lucas." Dejun winced hard and Kunhang tensed. Winwin looked between the two of them in confusion. 

"Uh, well it appears I've stepped into some territory that I will now back out of," Winwin said, holding his hands up in submission. "Dejun, if you want to come find us after the race you will absolutely make Yangyang's year." Dejun flushed again. The people here seemed to be very good at making that happen. 

"Sure," he muttered. Kunhang smirked at him, which earned his friend an elbow in the chest. Before he could comment, Winwin appeared to stiffen before turning to the part of the road the racers would be coming back down. 

"You guys might want to go back to the crowd," he informed. "They are almost here." 

After glancing briefly at each other, Dejun and Hendery made their way briskly back to the crowd. Just as they did, the sound of engines roared in the distance. Headlights were seen first and then, to both boys excitement, the shape of a black chrome car, Yukhei's car. On its tail was a red car that was so close, but didn't make the cut as Yukhei screeched across the finish line, Yangyang following a millisecond afterward. The other vehicles finishing held no interest to the crowd as it descended upon Yukhei in either excitement of winning money or frustration of losing. Regardless of the respective people's feelings, the excitement in the air was palpable and loud. Dejun turned to express his excitement to Kunhang but found he was not there. 

Looking around frantically Dejun found, to his immense surprise, that Kunhang was already on his way towards Lucas. With a dramatic flair that only Kunhang would possess, he leaped into Lucas's arms and kissed him hard on the mouth. 

Dejun's mouth dropped open in what was likely an embarrassing gape. But that was nothing compared to the look on Lucas's face once he finally realized what the hell just happened. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Lucas returned the kiss with such fervor that the exchange started to border the line of public indecency. Many turned their attention elsewhere, not wanting to look too long at the display before them, but Dejun remained staring in shock. He was distracted to the point where he didn't notice someone slide up next to him. 

"I bet we could one-up them if we tried." An amused voice broke through the haze in Dejun's head. He spun to face Yangyang who was standing next to him arms crossed over his chest as he too looked at the two happy lovers. His hair was tousled and he looked like he just ran a mile, which was odd considering he was sitting in a car, but Dejun couldn't pretend to know how races worked. In any case, the look was a good one and he was officially distracted from his own friends. Then Dejun realized what he said. 

"Uh…" was his intelligent response, face likely becoming tomato-colored. 

"Though I'm not entirely in the mood to get hit which is what I feel would happen if I tried that right now," he mused, smirking in his direction. 

Dejun hoped his returning grimace was a clear sign of him saying, "yes, probably." 

"Well we've got time," Yangyang continued with a shrug. Dejun stared at him, in awe of his confidence. Yangyang held his hand out, "I think you have something of mine?" Dejun started and looked down at the necklace he had clenched in his fist. His stress from earlier had indeed left indents in his palm. 

"I'm sorry; I guess I wasn't that lucky," Dejun said, placing the necklace in Yangyang's open hand. The second Dejun's hand made contact, Yangyang's clenched around it and squeezed. Dejun stared at him in shock. 

"I still got into the qualifier," he countered with a shrug before squeezing his hand once more and smiling at him brightly. "And I got to meet you, so I consider that a win in my book." 

Dejun, eternally single in this face of his much more charismatic friends, had never had words like this spoken to him before. He had figured he should brush off his earlier encounters with Yangyang as heat of the moment, racer dramatics (though still heart-pounding). But now with Yangyang continuing to wax poetic, he was starting to feel a little less wary of the boy in front of him. As he opened his mouth to speak again, a voice called from a distance. 

"Dejun!" Apparently, Kunhang had finally peeled himself off of Yukhei, who was now en route to his car. Once he acknowledged Kunhang, his friend made several gestures indicating they were leaving, before strolling over to the car. 

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," Dejun said, removing his hand from Yangyang's and starting to walk away before Yangyang grabbed his arm. 

"Wait! Can I have your number?" he asked quickly, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. Dejun hesitated, but as he met Yangyang's pleading eyes, he nodded. The smile he got in return was worth it. Yangyang handed his phone to Dejun, who quickly put his number in and returned it. After a moment of further hesitation, Dejun decided to be bold. 

In the blink of an eye, he leaned forward to peck Yangyang on the cheek before starting to back towards Yukhei's car. Yangyang stood dumbstruck. 

"Goodbye, Yangyang," Dejun said quietly before jogging towards Lucas's car, his face absolutely on fire. He was too nervous to look back and see Yangyang's response.

**Author's Note:**

> [tweeter](https://twitter.com/quippyquip)


End file.
